In the formation of pantyhose from a pair of elongate seamless hosiery blanks, it is the usual practice to knit seamless tubular hosiery blanks in right side out condition, transfer the knit blanks to a first sewing operator where the blanks are everted, inspected and the toe ends are closed by a seaming operation. The blanks are then transported to another operator where the upper ends are slit in a longitudinal direction and the slit edges of adjacent pairs of hosiery blanks are seamed together to form the panty portion, with or without a crotch insert or a connecting panel, to complete the pantyhose. This usual method of producing pantyhose requires several handling operations at different locations, thereby increasing the production cost, and also increasing the likelihood of the formation of picks and snags in the hosiery blanks and finished pantyhose.
In an attempt to increase efficiency and reduce cost, several different types of automatic toe closing machines have been developed which include a plurality of elongate hosiery carriers mounted on rotary turrets or trackways and movable around an endless path. With this type of machine, the operator merely needs to don the hosiery blanks on successive hosiery carriers and they are transported to a sewing machine where the toe end is automatically closed and the hosiery blank is subsequently removed by suction currents withdrawing the hosiery blank through the elongate hosiery carrier to evert the hosiery blank back to a right side out condition with the seam of the toe positioned on the inside of the hosiery blank. Hosiery blank toe closers of this general type are illustrated in numerous patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,420,196; 3,952,673; 4,120,251; and 4,383,490.
While these machines do reduce the labor costs involved in closing the toes of the hosiery blanks, the upper ends of the hosiery blanks must still be longitudinally slit in a separate operation.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,900,899 and 3,941,285 respectively disclose a method and apparatus for producing pantyhose which includes a single elongate tubular hosiery everting and inspection form with a toe seaming machine positioned closely adjacent the free end of the tubular form. The form is provided with a slitting device and the operator manually dons the upper end of the hosiery blank onto the inspection form so that a longitudinal slit is formed as the upper end is manually drawn onto the hosiery form to a predetermined point. The toe end is then seamed closed and the closed hosiery blank is then withdrawn through the elongate form by suction currents to evert the same so that it is again in right side out condition with the toe seam on the inside of the hosiery blank. While the method and apparatus disclosed in these patents do effect some cost savings by providing the slitting of the upper end of the hosiery blank and the toe closing in sequential operations by a single operator, the individual hosiery blanks are still manually drawn onto the hosiery form, the toe closure seam is manually formed, and the length of the longitudinal slit depends upon the skill of the operator in drawing the hosiery blank onto the elongate form and against the slitter.